OECD and the Council of Europe commemorate 20th anniversary of Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters

30/01/2008 - The OECD and the Council of Europe have jointly issued a new publication of the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of its opening for signature on 25 January 1988.

The publication of the Convention coincides with the deposit of the instrument of ratification of the Convention by the United Kingdom, on 24 January 2008, which brings to thirteen, the number of Parties. The Convention provides one of the most comprehensive and efficient instruments to counteract international non-compliance in today’s open and more integrated economy. It covers all taxes and allows exchange of information, multilateral simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in tax collection. It provides extensive safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information exchanged.

The Convention is open for signature to the Council of Europe member states and OECD member countries. The Parties are Azerbaijan, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Canada and Ukraine have signed the Convention and are still in the process of ratification.

Paolo Ciocca, Chair of the OECD’s Committee on Fiscal Affairs, welcomed the UK’s ratification of the Convention and added, “I was pleased to learn at this week’s Committee meeting that a number of other OECD countries intend to sign the Convention. This reflects the growing interest in multilateral administrative co-operation and the Convention provides the necessary legal framework and safeguards to facilitate such co-operation.”